Good Quality Science Fiction

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hi Moselle,

One approach would be to check out the Arts and Faith -> Literature & Creative Writing forum. I've seen some discussion of Christian (authors writing) sci fi, and at least one of the posters has a sci fi / fantasy series he's published. You could even ask for suggestions if you join the Arts & Faith board.

Also there is Stephen Lawhead's two-volume sci fi work, Empyrion (ISBN 0745918727). I have it but haven't yet read it, though a friend recommended it highly. Lawhead is, I am given to believe, a Christian. If Empyrion is half as good as his Arthurian legend series (Taliesin the award-winning first novel in that) it should be great. Though I did not like his early In the Hall of the Dragon King at all.

I agree with TimV, I didn't like Canticle for Leibowitz either. Nor did I think much of C.S. Lewis' space trilogy (read it when I was a young Christian maybe 35 or more years ago). I read some Dune and Foundation stuff ages ago but I can't even remember them.

I am of the mind what's really happening in the spirit world and on the earth today far exceeds any sci fi or fantasy fictions, but who tells it? At some point I'll introduce some of my own writings in the visionary adventure non-fiction genre.

Hope this helps.
 
Star Trek...anyone? :bueller:
not the books! anything but the books!!
(not any one that I've seen, anyway)

---------- Post added at 07:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:33 PM ----------

repeating my previous question, just out of interest -
does anyone know John Wyndham's books in the States?

I am not familiar with Wyndham, and he is not carried at our local library; but a quick search on Amazon shows that he is very highly regarded - especially The Day of the Triffids.

I found Empyrion at the library - I didn't care for Lawhead's "Hood", but ds might really enjoy it. I've also heard good things about Taliesin. I will check out that lit. forum, Steve

Ds has read The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers, which isn't exactly sci-fi, but maybe close enough? I've heard Declare is his best.
 
I would recommend Stanislaw Lem. He is from Czechoslovakia which led him to write very funny stories which stand as humour. Once you realise he was writing in a heavily censored communist state the irony becomes clear.

I would also recommend John Wyndham "the trouble with lichen" - I read it in High School some thirty years ago and loved it - I think the way human nature was revealed was the main interest. He is in my opinion a gifted writer.

OH ONE THING TO WATCH OUT FOR THE TRILOGY!!! Almost every book published in this genre presupposes a sequel so beware - even books I have picked up that look like a novel often turn out to be part of a series.
 
Canticle for Leibowitz

Did you really like that, Ruben? The main idea (it's been 35 years since I read it, so this from memory) was how Scripture was based on badly interpreted, corrupted writings. Wasn't their Bible based on some guys shopping list?

Tim, yes I did enjoy it; it wasn't the best writing I've ever read, of course, but I liked the atmosphere, the characters, etc. I don't remember anything quite like what you say: of course a lot of knowledge is lost, but a lot is retained. I think the following quote might give you something to enjoy, and show something of the book's value:

He fingered the mound of faggots where the wooden martyr stood. That's where all of us are standing now, he thought. On the fat kindling of past sins. And some of them are mine. Mine, Adam's Herod's, Judas', Hannegan's, mine. Everybody's. Always culminates in the colossus of the State, somehow, drawing about itself the mantle of godhood, being struck down by the wrath of Heaven. Why? We shouted it loudly enough—God's to be obeyed by nations as by men. Caesar's to be God's policeman, not His plenipotentiary successor, nor His heir. To all ages, all peoples—"Whoever exalts a race or a State or a particular form of State or the depositories of power ... whoever raises these notions above their standard value and divinizes them to an idolatrous level, distorts and perverts an order of the world planned and created by God...." Where had that come from? Eleventh Pius, he though, without certainty—eighteen centuries ago. But when Caesar got the means to destroy the world, wasn't he already divinized? Only by the consent of the people—same rabble that shouted: "Non habemus regem nisi caesarem," when confronted by Him—God Incarnate, mocked and spat upon. Same rabble that martyred Leibowitz....
"Caesar's divinity is showing again."
 
I recently read (screened) two sci-fi books for my kids. I have allowed my 14 & 15yr olds to read them, but I don't think I would go lower than that because of some scary aspects. They are both dystopian settings. The first is The Maze Runner which is going to be a trilogy with only one extant so far. The second is also a trilogy the first being The Hunger Games followed by Catching Fire. The second trilogy has a little bit of romance that is very light. I think a boy would like it anyway because it is a small part of the overall story which is kids forced to fight in the Hunger Games. THG is much deeper but a boy might like TMR better. One warning for TMR is that the "gladers" have their own made up vulgarities which have more and less obvious real world counterparts. It is an all boys cast for the most part with a Lord of the Flies twist. Both books are really hard to put down. My girls burned through them really fast. I did too. :D

Has anyone else here read Fred Saberhagen's sci-fi stuff? I have such a bad memory so I would like a little help remembering, but I really enjoyed his sci-fi stuff. Stay away from his fantasy since I do remember some sexual content in those.
 
I thought The Hunger Games was excellent - its been a big hit with the kids in our library.

I have a number of other things I could recommend, but I think they might all be deemed inappropriate based on what I'm reading in above posts. At least do Lewis' Space Trilogy though. I LOVED it and my brothers loved it more.
 
I loved reading C.S. Lewis’ space triology. I recently re-read “That Hideous Strength” and again am amazed a Lewis’ insight into our times. A thinking 15-year old would enjoy them.

I don’t recommend Dune.

Lawhead is a great author, but it seems I remember that some of his books were a bit graphic when it came to violence
 
Star Trek...anyone? :bueller:
not the books! anything but the books!!
(not any one that I've seen, anyway)

Actually, almost all of the Star Trek novels by Peter David are well done. They are an original series of books (Star Trek: New Frontier) written about a completely new ship and crew, set in the Star Trek universe but with only a tangental relationship to the other, known Star Trek characters and ships.

Also, if you can find it, I HIGHLY recommend the Pelbar Cycle by Paul O. Williams. It is a series of seven fairly short books. It is a post-apocalyptic series that combines elements of both sci-fi and fantasy. My wife and I LOVE them. They were out of print for about 20 years but were recently re-released around 2005.

Mike
 
I wasn't being too serious, Mike :D My family have been absolutely marinated in Star Trek ever since my eldest son first discovered it aged eight or nine (he's now26), but the only books we ever had were random ones picked up in charity shops, which seemed to be uniformly awful. I'm sure you're right there are some good ones!
Not sure if fresh and unrelated characters would have gone down as well in this house though, after so many years acquaintance with the old cast...
I think Voyager is the best series (but we loved the new movie too)
 
I had the same experience as you...random ST novels that were almost uniformly awful. But the Peter David novels are really well done. I dislike most of the others I've read. I didn't think I'd like the New Frontier, but I was surprised. The characters are great, the situations are original and it is all fresh because it isn't rehashing old storylines or TV characters that never quite seem like they're written right. There are a couple of key characters in the books that had minor roles on a few episodes, so they do have a tie in. And the main character, the captain of the ship, is recruited by Picard in the first book. I think there's something like 15 or 20 of those books. Periodically I check to see if he has written another. I don't even bother with the rest, because more often than not they stink.

But of course I don't typically care much for sci-fi novels anyway. I prefer fantasy. There's a LOT of that I could recommend, but my experience with the other is limited.

Mike
 
I've heard some good reviews of this Mormon Science-fiction author as an example of a talented writer who "keeps it clean":

The Science Fiction and Fantasy of
B. Franklin Thatcher



Bruce Franklin Thatcher is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy author who lives in Orem, Utah, not far from BYU, a university that has produced numerous major sf/f authors, such as Orson Scott Card, Dave Wolverton, and Diann Thornley.

Thatcher may be best known for his "Star Trek" stories in the Strange New Worlds anthologies. Thatcher had stories chosen for publication in both of the first two "Strange New Worlds" contests, including his 2nd place story "Of Cabbages and Kings" (out of over 3,000 entries).

Thatcher's dark fantasy story "By Other Windings" won a first place prize in the "Writers of the Future" contest, the world's most prestigous (and highest paying) contest for new science fiction/fantasy writers. Previous WoTF contest winners have included such major s.f. novelists as Dave Wolverton (author of The Courtship of Princess Leia, Serpent Catch, etc.), David Zindell (Neverness), Bell, Barnes, Hoffman, Rusch, etc. Like these WoTF predecessors, Thatcher may also become a major writer in the field.

After "I Am Become Death" (a story about Data) was published in the 2nd Strange New Worlds anthology, Thatcher was no longer eligible for publication in venues such as these, which cater to new writers. But he has continued to write and publish short stories and is currently working on a novel.

Thatcher has dealt with a variety of themes in his fiction, but ethics and morality are always central considerations, although approached from unusual perspectives. In "Of Cabbages and Kings", "I Am Become Death" and "By Other Windings" the nature of the human or sentient soul has been explored in stories focusing on a starship computer, an android, and a demon. In each of these stories, an intelligent but ostensibly soulless being is spirited instantly from its own familiar reality to an unfamiliar realm where it confronts choices to grow or perish, to be a willful agent or the pawn of others. Yet these stories are so completely different in tone and content that most readers would never notice these commonalities, unless they were specifically reading Thatcher stories and looking for them. Thatcher is first and foremost telling interesting, compelling stories, and any common "themes" are so deeply imbedded in the fabric of his fiction that even he seems unaware of them.
 
Charles Williams may be a little hard to follow, and it's not strictly SF or fantasy, but the books do make an indelible impression. I think I liked Many Dimensions best, but War in Heaven is also very good.
 
I would be careful with Heinlein. Starship Troopers is probably fine, but stay away from Stranger in a Strange Land. I really liked the story plot, but it's anti-Christian tones irritated me so much that I threw the book in the trash. I like the Star Trek New Earth series and the Lewis books mentioned already are pretty good. Another reason I have for reading science fiction is to dissect the world views that are usually irreligious and I find it helps for defending the faith with the different views that are out there. Wisdom though is needed for this given all of the **** in lots of the material. For a 15 year old, though I would stick with Star Trek.

At least for the T.V. series there are a number of biblical drivers for some of the shows that can be found here ==> Bible - Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki
 
Roger Zelazny - The Chronicles of Amber

Michael Moorcock - Elric of Melniboné series (This was/is perhaps my favorite)

Anne McCaffrey - Dragonriders of Perns series

Terry Brooks - Sword of Shanara series

Tolkien - The Silmarillion

Piers Anthony - Xanth series

Stephen R. Donaldson - The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever

I read all these books when I was in High School. Does it show that I like series as opposed to a single book.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top